Nevada Sunrise
by IndiaJewel
Summary: The summer after Sam's graduation, Jake has come back to spend the summer at Three Ponies and River Bend. I know the first chapter isn't long, but I'd love some feedback to let me know what you think.


**As dawn crept slowly over the rugged Nevada horizon, a young woman reached toward the sky with both arms stretching out the cramped muscles that were the result of a night huddled in a tent. Her silhouette was enticing as her lithe body rolled back into her cowgirl posture. Feeling a strong arm wrap around her waist and a warm hand rest possessively on her stomach, she turned to kiss the dark haired man behind her. "Jake." she murmured as he licked her lips, then the corners of her mouth, and her cheeks. "Jake? Jake? What ARE you doing?"**

**Samantha Forrester awakened with a groan. She promptly let out a small high pitched squeal as she found herself staring into the chocolate brown eyes of her dog, Blaze, whose warm pink tongue was lolling out of his mouth.**

"**Well, that explains it. Blaze, that was a nasty trick to play on me." She muttered direly under her breath as she considered where Blaze's innocent looking tongue had been.**

"**Yuck! Blaze, I thought you were - "**

**Jake popped his head in the door of Sam's room.**

"**Hey, Brat, you better get a move on! Cody has beaten you to the barn again and your dad would be none too happy to find you lying in bed talking to yourself."**

"**I wasn't talking to myself!" Sam protested.**

**Jake smirked knowingly "Oh, you were just asking Blaze which pair of jeans to wear?"**

"**Yeah right!" Sam retorted. "I was just – Oh never you mind, Jake Ely! Just get out so I can get dressed!"**

**Jake disappeared as quickly as he'd come and Sam yawned as she got out of bed and pulled on her barn clothes. Today was the first day of her new adult life. Granted, she wasn't eighteen yet, but yesterday she had graduated from high school and today marked the beginning of adulthood.**

"**_Maybe that explains my dream."_ Sam thought hesitantly.**

**Sam and Jake Ely had been friends practically since Sam was born. Their families owned ranches that were adjacent to each other. The Ely family owned the Three Ponies Ranch and the Forrester family owned The River Bend Ranch.**

"**Sam! Sam!" Cody called. Sam's brother was only three but he loved to be outdoors. Ever since he could walk, the family knew that when Cody went missing, the first place you looked was in the barn or by the pasture fence where the horses grazed.**

"**Hello, sweetheart, where's my good morning kiss?" Sam crooned as she scooped him up from the hay. Cody puckered his adorable little lips and grazed Sam's cheek, then turned his head to receive a good morning kiss from her. He giggled as she gave him a noisy and sloppy kiss.**

**Sam put him down and grabbed a bucket for feed.**

"**Ready, partner?" She said as she pretended to swagger like Clint Eastwood up the barn aisle.**

"**Ready!" Cody said eagerly.**

**Glancing into the barn, Jake could not help watching Cody trying to imitate his sister's exaggerated swagger as he waddled after Sam. Jake smiled to himself. He knew that before Cody was born Sam had worried about how having a little brother or sister would affect her life on the ranch, but Jake also knew that once Cody had arrived Sam could not imagine life without him. Even Jake had to admit that the older the little guy got, the more it became clear what a natural horseman he was. He and Sam probably inherited some of that from each of their mothers.**

**Sam's mom had died in a tragic accident when Sam was young. She was driving and had wrecked when she swerved to avoid hitting some horses. She had been an amazing woman and part of her spirit was evident in Sam. A few years ago, Sam's father, Wyatt, had remarried Brynna. She was just about as horse crazy as Sam was. Jake figured that's where Cody's abilities came from. Although Wyatt enjoyed horses, he was not passionate about them the way the other members of his family were.**

"**Hey, Jake!" Sam's call interrupted his reverie. "Could you toss me some liniment? Cody just scraped his arm pretty good when he fell."**

"**Sure." Jake strode to the medicine cabinet and grabbed some liniment and some alcohol to clean it out. As he ambled back to the end of the barn where Sam was looking at Cody's arm, Jake considered the upcoming summer months.**

**College was nice, but he always looked forward to summers with Sam. He just hoped that when she went off to college she would return to River Bend during the summers. Summer would not be the same without having to bail Sam out of one scrape after another. Sometimes he got annoyed with her, but he knew that she could not help her adventurous ways. They were a part of her mother's legacy that lived on in Sam. Still, he wished that she would exercise a little more caution. One of these days Jake was not going to be around and he didn't like the thought of her being hurt.**

**Sam glanced up at Jake to see him looking at her with an almost imperceptible look of anxiety. _It's not that bad. It's just a scrape._ Sam thought to herself.**

"**It's not bad, Jake. Sorry if I worried you." Sam apologized.**

"**Yeah, Jake, it's not too bad." Cody echoed with a sniff.**

"**Huh?" Jake looked confused.**

"**His arm? It's not that bad. Don't worry." Sam repeated.**

"**Oh, yeah. His arm." Jake said. Rubbing Cody's head, he looked at the scrape.**

"**Yeah, buddy, you'll be good as new in a day or so." Jake reassured him.**

**Sam cleaned off Cody's arm and put some liniment on it. She looked up to see Jake still standing over her with that same look on his face. _What is going on?_ Sam wondered. _I just hope I haven't done something._**


End file.
